The remembrance of the righteous is a blessed thing. None are more the source of blessing than those who made the supreme sacrifice. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends," John 15:13. The martyr fires had been burning in England since Mary, "Bloody" Mary, had come to the throne in 1553. In carrying out her campaign to reinstate popery, Mary earned her nickname, "Bloody Mary". During her reign, more than 300 persons were burned at the stake. Among them was Thomas Cranmer. In 1555, 71 Protestants had been burned at the stake. Included amongst this noble band were Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London and Hugh Latimer, once Bishop of Worcester. These godly men were burned in Oxford on 16th October 1555. The last words of Hugh Latimer thrill us still as a trumpet blast of victory. "Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day, by God's grace, light such a candle in England as I trust shall never be put out." He was an old man, being over 80 years of age. But age and frailty meant nothing to popery then or now. Such was the atmosphere in England when Thomas Cranmer was arrested tried and burned at the stake in Oxford on 21st March 1556.